Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39179656›Full record

ArticleAesthetic plastic surgery2025

A Scoping Review on Complications in Modern Hair Transplantation: More than Just Splitting Hairs.

Rui Han Liu, Lucy J Xu, Justin C McCarty, Roy Xiao, Jenny X Chen, Linda N Lee

Abstract readScoping Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Aesthetic plastic surgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
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  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Rui Han LiuDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Division of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA. ruihan_liu@meei.harvard.edu.ORCID 0000-0003-1415-6121
Lucy J XuDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Division of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
Justin C McCartyDepartment of Surgery, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Roy XiaoDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Division of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
Jenny X ChenDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Linda N LeeDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Division of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHair restoration surgery (HRS) is a commonly performed elective procedure but to date lacks a review of the full scope of complications.

objectivesTo provide a comprehensive overview of observed complications associated with follicular unit extraction (FUE) and follicular unit transplantation (FUT). ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Randomized control trials, cohort studies, case series, and case reports published in 1985 or later on adults (age>18). Nontraumatic or autoimmune etiologies of alopecia were excluded as procedure indications. SOURCES OF EVIDENCE: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane databases (last search December 31, 2022). CHARTING

methodsData-charting and extraction were independently performed with two reviewers using Covidence.

resultsForty-three publications were included. Two large series reported the overall complication rate to be 1.2 and 4.7%. Common complications included bleeding requiring intervention (up to 8%), persistent numbness (up to 11%), infection (up to 11% with two reports of Kaposi varicelliform eruptions and one of mucormycosis), effluvium at donor and recipient sites (up to 4.1% and 6.5%, respectively). The most common donor-site complication was hypertrophic scarring/keloid formation after FUT (up to 15.1%). Complications at the recipient site, including crusting (up to 54.8%), frontal edema (up to 50%), and sterile folliculitis (up to 53.3%), tended to be poorly defined with a broad range of incidences.

conclusionSerious complications associated with HRS are rare in the hands of experienced providers. However, comprehensive discussions of risk must be had with prospective patients as any complication in the context of an elective procedure may be significant and psychologically devastating for the individual patient. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE V: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Indexed as

AlopeciaHairHair FolliclePostoperative ComplicationsFemaleHumansMaleRisk AssessmentTissue and Organ HarvestingTreatment OutcomeComplicationsFollicular unit extractionFollicular unit transplantationHair restoration surgeryHair transplant

Identifiers

PMID39179656

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.